The Millen Mile

I was sad that the timing didn't work out for me to do an outdoor track race this year.  Then I chanced on an article about the Millen mile and realized it timed out for me!  The mile is held on the Kennett High School track in North Conway NH at half-time of the season opening home game.  Talk about cool!  I contacted Bernie Livingston and was happy when he said "you're in!".  I haven't done much in the way of faster running in a while and was hoping this would wake up my legs for the upcoming 5km road championships.

I drove the 125 miles from work at 3pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend.  Wow, some crazy traffic!  Luckily I had plenty of time.  I walked around the parking lot and track to get a bit loose after the 3.5 hour drive.

Soon enough it was time to warm-up.  I got in a really nice 3 mile run on the N Conway recreation trail.  After that I quickly changed into race gear and flats and headed to the track.  We had a bit of time as the first half wound down.  I got in some strides and chatted with some of the competition (including CMS teammate Leslie O'Dell - I was so happy to see a familiar face!).  We each got called to the line then were sent on our way.

I was hoping to run 80's and maybe pick it up and sneak in under 5:20.  It was a bit weird running on the track at night under the lights but also cool getting the crowd support on the home-stretch.  I hit the first lap (actually 409 meters to get us the full mile instead of 1600 meters) in 82.  After that I tried to pick it up.  I was alone in 6th with one high school runner up ahead.  I wasn't with him but he was close enough to keep me "in it".  I could also hear from the announcer that Leslie was not far behind.  I passed the half-mile in 2:43 (81 second split) so better but still not quite what I'd hoped for.  Now I started counting down 800 to go, 700 to go, etc., and reached the end of the third lap in 4:03 (80 second split).  I was glad that I wasn't going to get lapped!  I kicked with all I had and managed a 78.9 final lap for a time of 5:21.9.  That was good enough for 6th place in the field of 11 finishers.  More importantly, it was a heck of a lot of fun!

I met up with Leslie and a few of the guys and we did multiple loops around the school to get in a 2 mile warm-down.  Man, it was getting late and I was tired :-)

I'm looking forward to coming back to this race and getting a "Livingston Oval" PR on Strava!

School record turns 35

35 years ago today (05/08/1982) I took 3^rd place at the Loucks Games (White Plains, NY) in the 2m.  The race was held at 4:30pm and temperatures were in the upper 60’s and low 70’s.  The pace was all over the place with the leader throwing in fast quarters then slowing things down.  Although the mile splits were pretty even (4:35/4:35) for me, the quarters ranged from 74 to 62.  The 9:10.8 I ran was good enough for 3^rd place and lowered my Billerica Memorial High School outdoor track record.  The time still stands as the school record.

Penn Relays - 30 years ago

04-23-1987:  Conditions were perfect at Penn Relays where I ran to an 11th place 29:25.  Bob Hodge took third place running 28:29.  My splits were: 4:39/9:21/14:00/18:42/23:30/28:17.  The 29:25 broke my school record from 1985.  It would stand for 26 years, before being smashed by Jeff Veiga who ran 29:07.76 in 2013.

 

From Bob Hodge’s blog:  The plantar fascia was bothersome particularly in the heal area. As I warmed up for my race at Penn, I was limping through my strides until my heal warmed/numbed up sufficiently. In those days the track at Penn was hard and a 10k in spikes was tough on the feet and lower legs.  When the gun sounded a large field sprinted out. As the runners on the outside broke from the stagger they slowed as no one seemed willing to take the lead. I took it and led nearly the entire race. I was passed in the last 200m by JP Nadyasanga of Belgium, but nearly caught him back in the straight just before Troy Billings got by me on the other side. I was third and very pleased with my race, my second fastest 10k.

 

Hodgie’s training diary from that week:

20 6m run p.m. 38:31

21 7m run a.m. 45:38 2m strides 8x200m 30 2m run

22 7m run a.m. 45:20 4m run p.m. 27:20

23 Penn. Relays 5m run a.m. 32:50 3m strides 10k 28:29.3 9:03,14:11 2m run

24 8m run p.m. 52:15

25 nothing

26 57 5m run p.m. 34:34

 

My training log from the same week:

20 8m in the morn alone

21 1m warm-up then Apple Orchard 8

22 5m in morn in 32 min. 8 hour van ride then 3 fast at night in Phillie

23 Penn. Relays 3 warm-up, 1 mile of strides, 2 warm-down. 29:25 (439/442/439/442/448/447)

24 7m easy

25 Shedd Park 8 in 55 min.

26 Pink Church 10 in 65

 

U-Lowell track 30 years ago!

Here is what the roster looked like in 1987 (my final season at U-Lowell) and the school records/top 10 times.

NH Masters/Seniors Games 5,000 meters

After missing the Friday Night Lights 10,000, I signed up for the New Hampshire Masters Games (formerly known as the “Senior” games) for an opportunity to get on the outdoor track.  I was hoping that a 5,000 on the track would get me some much needed leg turnover after all of the Mountain racing I’d done and a poor showing in the heat at the 5m road champs.  I spent a long weekend bagging a few state highpoints along with a bunch of Trustees of the Reservations sites.  That left me a bit tired and not really “up” for the race on Sunday morning.

 

I arrived at the Manchester high school track and found the facility to be very nice.  It was sunny and warm in MA but when I got to the track it was cloudy and 70 degrees when I hit the track for a 3 mile warm-up.  By the time I finished the clouds had cleared and the temperature had jumped to nearly 80.  Not as bad as last weekend but warmer than I wanted.  We were the first event of the day and there was a 15 minute delay as they weren’t quite ready for us.  Only 6 guys and one lady showed up for the 5,000.  Ages ranged from 51 to 81.  I was pretty sure I would be on my own and once the gun fired I was out in front.

 

My goal was to run around 5:40 pace which would be 85 seconds per lap.  I hit the first 400 meters in 81 and after that settled in.  I took splits every lap but just looked every ½ mile, figuring I was moving as fast as I could and seeing a split probably wouldn’t get me going any faster.  I focused on the lapped runners in front of me which helped the 12.5 laps go by.  I never felt good but ran pretty even, after a faster than expected first lap (and by virtue of that a first kilometer) my K splits were all within 1.5 seconds at 3:28.1, 3:34.2, 3:35.1, 3:35.4, 3:35.7.  My only disappointment was that I didn’t have any kick over the last lap.  I suppose that means I was going as fast as I could.  If nothing else this helps my confidence heading into the New England 10 mile championships this coming weekend.

 

Kilos        1600s      Splits       400m split

                               01:21.6     1:21.6

                               02:45.3     1:23.7

3:28.1                      04:10.9     1:25.6

               05:36.7     05:36.7     1:25.8

3:34.2                      07:02.3     1:25.6

                               08:28.1     1:25.8

                               09:54.6     1:26.5

3:35.1      05:43.5     11:20.2     1:25.6

                               12:46.4     1:26.2

3:35.4                      14:12.8     1:26.4

                               15:39.1     1:26.3

               05:44.9     17:05.1     1:26.0

3:35.7                      17:48.5     0:43.4

 

2016 New Hampshire Masters Games - 8/21/2016                   

Memorial HS - Manchester NH                          

 

M50 5000 M Run

Name                     Age Team               Time        Age Graded              Age-Grading%

1 Dave Dunham        M52 MA, MA              17:48.54                  15:56.67                  79.13%

2 William Newsham   M51 NH, NH               20:33.92                 18:24.73                  68.52%

 

M55 5000 M Run

1 Stephen Shin         M55 VT, VT               23:58.88                  20:38.02                  61.15%

 

M65 5000 M Run

1 Stephen Viegas      M68 MA, MA              23:46.97                  18:46.17                  67.22%

 

M75 5000 M Run

1 Hugh Wilson          M77 NH, NH              32:31.05                  22:41.45                  55.60%

 

M80 5000 M Run

1 Rodney L'Italien     M81 MA, MA              36:23.13                  23:03.67                  54.71%

 

Where can you do a 10,000 meters in New England?

The window for running a 10,000 meter outdoor track race for the All-Terrain Runner Series is about to open.  Finding a 10,000 might not be as easy as you’d think.

 

I went through the Calendar of events on the USATF NE outdoor track webpage and was able to come up with the races below.  Disclaimer:  I am not stating that these are the only events with a 10,000.  Do your own research!  I limited my search to track meets in New England.

 

I did not hear back from Umass Dartmouth or Westfield State regarding the events being open to post-collegians (or having qualifying standards).  The others are all OPEN with no qualifying standards.  At this time USATF NE has not scheduled a 10,000 for the championships…contact the track chair and let him know that you would be interested!

 

 

April 2 Jim Sheehan Memorial Meet, Fitchburg State U., MA.                       jjellison@fitchburgstate.edu         10,000 finishers 2015: 2W/13M

All entries must be submitted on Direct Athletics (www.directathletics.com). Entries are due by 7:00pm on Wednesday, March 30. Submit seed performances for all events. No additions after this date. Scratches only

10:15    10,000M, Combined Men and Women

 

April 2 UMass Dartmouth Corsair Invitational, Dartmouth MA                       sgardiner@umassd.edu               10,000 finishers 2015: 2W/10M

 

 

April 16 Eric Loeschner Invitational, Fitchburg State U., MA                         jjellison@fitchburgstate.edu         10,000 finishers 2015: 0W/6M

All entries must be submitted on Direct Athletics (www.directathletics.com).  Entries are due by 7:00pm on Wednesday, April 15th. Submit seed performances for all events. No additions after this date. Scratches only.

10:15 10,000M, Combined Men and Women

 

May 21 New Balance Boston Twilight, UMass Lowell, Lowell MA  newbalanceboston@gmail.com         10,000m finishers 2015:12W/23M

 

July 29-30 - USATF NEW ENGLAND Open and Masters championship

     College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA  Entry info / schedule after May 1 (might include 10,000?)              zemerson@usatfne.org

 

 

 

 

Masters track

Sometimes CMS runner Francis Burdett (Worcester, MA) placed 6^th in the 5,000 meters at the World Masters Track championships in Lyon France.  Sixteen runners in the 50-54 broke 17 minutes.  Two days later he doubled back in the 10,000 meters taking 7^th place.  Twelve runners in the 50-54 finished in less than 35 minutes.

 

M50 5000 Meter Run

=======================================

  1  Reynolds, Ben      M51 Great Britai          15:47,07  

  2  Bracken, Guy       M53 Great Britai          15:57,05  

  3  Traynor, Michael   M50 Ireland               15:57,71   

  4  Fontaneda, Francis M51 Spain                 15:59,08  

  5  Dahl, Anders       M50 Sweden                16:04,49  

  6  Burdett, Francis   M50 United State          16:07,40  

  7  Trees, Mike        M52 Great Britai          16:15,01  

  8  Ribeiro, Georges   M54 France                16:24,62  

  9  Van Asbroeck, Luc  M50 Belgium               16:30,15  

 10 Graham, Bruce      M53 Australia             16:31,04  

 

M50 10000 Meter Run

==========================================

1 Fontaneda, Francis M51 Spain 32:52,03 2

2 Kremer, Dov M50 Israel 33:06,49 2

3 Traynor, Michael M50 Ireland 33:23,95 2

4 Bracken, Guy M53 Great Britai 33:37,81 2

5 Graham, Bruce M53 Australia 33:39,14 2

6 Van Asbroeck, Luc M50 Belgium 34:02,38 2

7 Burdett, Francis M50 United State 34:07,11 2

8 Brücker, Hansjörg M51 Switzerland 34:11,56 2

9 Dahl, Anders M50 Sweden 34:20,93 2

10 Hakola, Jari M51 Finland 34:46,57 2

 

Full results: http://rhone-alpes.athle.com/asp.net/espaces.html/html.aspx?id=31704

 

URL: http://rhone-alpes.athle.com/asp.net/espaces.html/html.aspx

 

Twilight

NB twilight track meet – I couldn’t find any races that looked interesting for this weekend. Dan had mentioned at the River that he was doing the Twilight meet to get a 5,000 time (for the All-Terrain Runner series).  I don’t like night races but it looked like a good low pressure place to get some leg turnover.  It may sound funny calling a big meet like the Twilight race “low pressure” but it was for me since I knew going in that I’d be among the slowest runners by a LONG way.  Dave Lapierre joined in the fun as he is also doing the ATR series, and by looking at the seed times we could see that we’d all probably be running alone and most (if not all) of the field would lap us.

 

We got there early and watched some of the action before heading out on the road for a warm-up.  It was a little breezy and a bit warm but really not too bad for racing.  I thought we gave ourselves plenty of time but by the time we got back and changed into race gear it was time to go.  I guess missing doing some strides was okay, I was pretty hyped up nervous/excited.  Something about track racing just flips the adrenaline switch.  Maybe it has to do with how exposed you are, there is no hiding on the track. 

Everyone lined up and me, Dan and Dave hung back.  We all wanted to start in the second row since everyone would be zipping out, it’d still be a clean start.  So it was. Boom everyone just shot off and by 100 meters Dan was off the back of the last 3 guys, I was off alone behind him, and Dave was on his own behind me.  I had a goal of running under 17:40 so I was aiming to run 85 seconds for each 400 meter lap.  I was a step or two under at 400 and felt good but kept telling myself to wait until half-way and if I felt better that would be the time to pick it up.  Usually that is the point where you really start to question the wisdom of signing up for a 12.5 lap race.

 

I rolled along pretty steadily, hitting the 1600 (metric mile) in 5:36 and 3200 (metric 2 mile) in 11:11.  Around that point I noted that Dan was coming back a bit (he’d had almost a full straight-away lead) so I focused on trying to reel him in.  Last year at the USATF NE track champs, I’d beaten Dan by 1 second catching him in the final 100 meters.  I dug down and started closing the gap.  With 600 to go I thought I might have a chance but Dan was also thinking about last year and he snuck a peek.  He found a little something extra and was able to keep me from catching him this time.

Along with Dave La we took the last three places (17, 18, 19) in the race but also took it for what it was.  D-La set a 50+ PR and ran a minute faster than his 5,000 last year, Dan was top “senior” in the race and held me off, and I ran my best time this year and came in about 15 seconds faster than I thought I could run.  Our combined ages also topped the first seven finishers combined age ☺

 

Dan and I finished off the night with a scenic loop along the Merrimack River and the Lowell canal river walk. 

 

Senior Results:

1 Dan Verrington CMS 17:22.66

2 Dave Dunham CMS 17:24.32

3 David Lapierre CMS 19:54.38

 

Overall

1 Dan Milechman Harvard 14:34.57

 

11 Scott Leslie CMS 15:44.39

13 Alex Hall WRT 16:01.20

 

Splits

400 Splits		1600 splits	Kilometer
1:24.3
1:24.4	2:48.7
1:23.9	4:12.6		3:30.7
1:24.1	5:36.7	05:36.7
1:23.4	7:00.1		3:29.5
1:23.4	8:23.5
1:23.6	9:47.1
1:24.2	11:11.3	05:34.6	3:29.1
1:24.5	12:35.8
1:23.9	13:59.7		3:30.5
1:23.9	15:23.6
1:23.0	16:46.6	05:35.3
0:37.8	17:24.32		3:24.7
17:24.32

 

 

 

USATF NE 5,000 meter championship

I haven’t raced 5,000 meters on outdoor track very often (only a dozen times in the last 31 years), but chose to run one this weekend.  The new “All Terrain” series was my major motivation.  This new series features a trail race, mountain race, outdoor track race, road race, and cross-country race.  I enjoy doing all types of racing so I was all-in for the series.  The 5,000 could be run at any outdoor track meet but the USATF New England open and master’s championship fit the schedule the best.  The major issue for me was my lack of training due to my injury and my fear that I’d make the injury worse by doing this.  After missing a week due to the bone bruise and ligament issues in my right foot, I’d started back running tentatively.  I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up, but I was willing to give it a go.

 I carpooled to the race with Dan Verrington and Dave Lapierre.  We were all interested in the All-terrain series and would make up 60% of the seniors in the field.  I wasn’t sure what I could run but was aiming for 17:40 which would give me about 80 points (based on Nate Jenkins leading time of 14:41).  It was pretty warm when we arrived and there is no shade on the track.  We met up with teammates Greg Putnam, Jim Pawlicki, and Francis Burdett and headed out for a 20 minute warm-up.  My foot felt “okay” but I was dragging.  My fastest mile in the past two weeks was just under 8 minutes; this was going to be tough.  I switched into my racing flats and grabbed a water bottle and headed to the track.  I got in another mile while watching the women’s 5,000 finish up.  I had hoped to do some strides but after the second one my foot started to hurt so I backed off and just jogged around to stay loose.

They broke us up into two heats and Dan and I were in the first heat with 20 other guys.  It was kind of funny as they lined us up and gave us the choice of being on the line or moving up in the second row.  Dan and I both took the second row in the middle of the track.  That seemed like the perfect spot to stay out of trouble. 

Pictures by Krissy
 

I found myself in last place right away and tried to relax.  Jim, Todd, and Dan were a little ahead and the first quarter was slow (83+).  I moved around two guys and focused on the small pack in front of me.  I focused a bit too much and ran a too fast quarter (79+).  After that I felt like I settled in.  Dan’s group slowly pulled away and I found myself alone after Joe O’Leary went by just after the mile.  My foot started to hurt a lot around half-way and my calf (probably from favoring) was twinging.  At 2 miles Dan was 12+ seconds ahead, but I was running my own race and kept trying to not completely fall apart.  I went back around Joe O’Leary and saw that Dan had fallen off of his group.

 

After 2 miles I started checking how far Dan was ahead, although I didn’t think I could catch him I wasn’t giving up on trying.  With 3 laps to go he was 12 seconds up, with 2 laps left it was down to 9 seconds, and at the gun lap it was 5 or 6 seconds.  I was running even splits (slow) and he was coming back so I kept rolling along.  With 200 to go he was still 4 or 5 seconds ahead but I found another gear and caught him in the last 100 meters.  At the end I got him by just over 1 second.  I hit the track hard, wheezing and trying to breathe.  Man that hurt!

 My ankle and calf were both pretty bad, but after D-la ran his heat we ran an easy 2m before calling it a day.  CMS had a good day, putting 6 in the top 15.  Greg Putnam took gold in the 40-44 and Todd Callaghan took bronze.  Francis got gold in the 45-49, and Dan and I took silver and gold respectively in the 50-54.

 Results (33 finishers):

Top 5 and CMS finishers
1  15:06.71 Sean Duncan          24            WMDP
2  15:17.79 Eric Couture            26            Unatt
3  15:58.95 Alex Hall                 27            BAA
4 16:01.48 Greg Putnam        44           CMS
5  16:12.60 Jeffrey Ragazzini      24            GBTC
                                                            
8  16:35.94 Francis Burdett        49            GSH (sometimes CMS)
9  16:49.27 Todd Callaghan       44            CMS
11 16:53.17 James Pawlicki       39            CMS
14 17:21.74 Dave Dunham        50            CMS
15 17:22.99 Daniel Verrington    52            CMS
27 20:59.24 David Lapierre        50            CMS
 
Men 50+
1  17:21.74 Dave Dunham      50           CMS
2  17:22.99 Daniel Verrington               52           CMS
3  19:55.92 Michael Quinn         50            SRR
4  20:11.80 Andrew Merlino Jr    50            Shamrock  
5  20:59.24 David Lapierre     50           CMS
 
Splits:
83.4
79.1
81.8
82.5
5:26.8
 
82.6
83.8
84.7
84.5
5:35.6 (11:02.4)
 
85.5
85.5
84.9
84.6
5:40.5 (16:42.9)
 
38.8 = 17:21.74
 
My history at 5,000 meters on the outdoor track – ten finishes before this weekend
Date        City, St                   Time        PL            Fin           Info        
03/26/83  Gainseville, FL           14:27.7     1              15            Florida  Relays          
04/21/83  Newton, MA              14:19.8     7              20            BC relays  
05/07/83  Springfield, MA          15:13.6     5              20            Easterns  
05/26/83  Cape Giradeau, MO    14:58.0     12            13            NCAA Championships
04/07/84  Fitchburg, MA            14:32.8     1              15            Fitchburg State relays
06/15/85  Reading, MA             15:03.0     1              20            Bay state games      
05/08/87  Newton, MA              14:11.6     4              20            BC invitational          
04/11/09  Lowell, MA                16:35.9     6              10            George Davis Invitational          
04/23/11  Medford, MA             16:47.1     8              10            Tufts Invitational      
08/02/12  Lisle, IL                    16:53.8     3              10            USATF Masters Nationals     

Track workout

Dome	1200/800/400/400 twice	with Dan
Interval	Rest	1/22/2013	Laps rest	Dist rest
3:59.5	2:03		1.1	337.7
2:40.5	2:46		1.4	429.8
1:19.4	1:14		0.7	214.9
1:19.5	3:08		1.7	521.9
3:58.3	2:10		1.1	337.7
2:39.5	2:36		1.4	429.8
1:18.1	1:17		0.7	214.9
1:15.8	1:49		0.7	214.9
18:30.6	17:03	week 3	8.8	2701.6

 

 

Back at the dome for the Tuesday night track workouts with Dan.  This was the third week and our first week moving up the total distance of the speed from 3 miles to 3.5 miles.  I can't recall the last time we did a descending "ladder" type workout.  Dan called it the "Cranmore" in honor of the down/up nature of this years Cranmore hill climb.  The workout went well, we were (as always) aiming for 80's or so for the 1200's and 800's and "under that" for the 400's.  We each took a turn at the lead and kept things consistent.  Dan blazed the last 400 and I just tried to hang with him through it.  Fun stuff!